Netflix’s most-streamed series ever is officially coming back. Deadline reports the streamer has greenlighted season two of the Korean drama, Squid Game. The official announcement came courtesy of the creator himself, Hwang Dong-hyuk (Silenced, The Fortress) via Instagram.
In the post, Dong-hyuk details how it took “12 years to bring the first season of ‘Squid Game’ to life last year. But it took 12 days for ‘Squid Game’ to become the most popular Netflix series ever.” To date, Squid Game reigns as the most-watched series – English or non-English language – in Netflix history accumulating an insane 1.65 billion views within its first 28 days of release, via Deadline.
Squid Game stars Lee Jung-jae (Deliver Us From Evil, The Housemaid) as Gi-hun, an out-of-work divorced father whose gambling vice forces him to consent to play a set of games in order to win an enormous amount of money. Thinking this cash reward will erase his troubles, he soon discovers losers of each game pay with their lives. The first season found Gi-hun reluctantly accepting the cash winnings as the last man standing. But he won’t be satisfied until the entire operation is demolished to prevent others from meeting the same fate.
According to Deadline, Dong-hyuk – the sole writer, director, and producer of the series – has confirmed Gi-hun’s return as well as the Front Man, played by Lee Byung-hun (Mr. Sunshine, Iris), for the second season. We may also see Gong Yoo return as the man in the suit. The post also teases us with a new character: Cheol-su, who is Young-hee’s boyfriend.
Since the series’ release last year, Squid Game has met both commercial and critical acclaim. Apart from being Netflix’s most-streamed series, it picked up a historic four wins at this year’s Screen Actors Guild Awards. It was the first non-English series to win acting prizes for both Jung-jae and Jung Ho-yeon (Korea’s Next Top Model), winning Outstanding Performances by a Lead Actor and Actress in a Drama Series, respectively. The series also snagged Stunt Ensemble in a TV series and Ensemble in a Drama Series.